I'd welcome some advice on building a low-priced computer.

Hi.

I'm tired of buying used and cheap Pentium 3's and having them break down months later. I got a used P3 for my brother last year and it died in about 8 months. I want to get him a new computer. It doesn't have to be powerful. He just needs it for school.

I want to build a computer using brand new parts but I also want to keep the system simple and the price low.

I need your opinions and advice on cost efficient machine parts.

What I need:

Motherboard
RAM to go with the mobo
CPU chip - P4
Heatsink
CPU fan

What I already have:

CD drive
Floppy drive
Case
Power Supply

The computer just needs to be powerful enough to do basic programs. I thought I'd check here before I price shop.

Thanks in advance.

 

The most cost effective is very specific to what programs you will use and how much you are willing to spend also if your building a new pc,a new psu is a must.

 

The power supply unit I am going to use is new and has never been used.

The programs going to be used are uhhhh... Micorsoft Word, Microsoft Encyclopedia, and programs for music and video's. Nothing special. It doesn't have to do much.

I'm not sure how much I'm willing to spend. 3-4 hundred. I'm not sure.

 

Motherboard:
$50-150
Any ASUS p4 478 chipset board will be decent priced (DO NOT FOR ANY REASON BUY A ECS OR ELITEGROUP MOBO!) I don't care how cheap they are. you might as well throw the money for it out the window of your car on the way to the store.

Ram:
$40-150
Kingston Value ram is good and reliable (very cheap) only 145 for a gig of ddr 400 3200 half that for 512.
CPU chip:
$100-400
P4 2.4 mhz is fast enough for almost anything and on the cheap, but you will not have Hyper hreading. 2.8 or more and you'll have HT. HT is great but not a big disadvantage if you don't have it.

Heat sink...Zalman CPU heatsink/fan....
about $50
...with ARCTIC SILVER. Will make ALL the difference.
$10
Arctic Silver is a heat paste. it alone will keep temps down super low.

You could get out for less that $300

 

Thanks, enigmamdw@yahoo.com. I will look into the things you posted.

I forgot about the video and audio. Whatever onboard video comes with the mother board is fine. I hope it comes with onboard sound to. Oh, well. I will find out as I look into this further.

 

Go to www.pricewatch.com and type in " PC - Linspire " in the search box, you'll get a bunch of computer models starting at 199.00 and up. I saw some computers running up to 2.8 XP models for about $300.00. They also had some mid 2.x sempron processor models for between $200 and $300.

The reason I'm suggesting this is: hardware prices have dropped so dramtically, building low end computers isn't very cost effective like it was several years ago. I stopped doing it unless you have all or most of the spare parts laying around.

I'm suggesting Linspire because it's very user friendly and you could use open office for office software, and "The Gimp" for graphics. Like all linux versions, it comes with a decent amount of software. You could also buy one without the operating system and buy xandros which can run office 2000, it works pretty good. Or you could go with something like Fedora or one of the other free linux operating systems. You could also go with XP home which is cheaper than XP professional, but I'm not a big fan of "Home".

If you want to build, and I like to do it, then go for it. But if you need a system, and want a new one cheap, take a look at these options and consider them, if they fit your needs. Good luck!

wuf@bark.arf

 

What about a refurbished laptop? More convenient than any desktop especially if demands are not going to be great. You can still hook up keyboards, mouse and monitor at home or school. Only a thought. Bazza

 

Just thought I would throw in my 2 cents worth. For a budget system, it doesn't make sense to buy an aftermarket cooling solution, since the stock one that comes with the processor is more than adequate. Asus mother boards may be good, but if you have any problems, you will enter the hell known as Asus technical support, and you don't want to go there. As far as ECS I have only owned one and it has worked fine. A basic AMD system is an alternative to the Intel that you might want to look at to stay in your budget. The bottom line is that even buying new, there is always the chance of problems, but at least you have a warranty.

 

Basic low end computer:

Asus A7N8X Deluxe (the Deluxe model is a few more bucks for some on board goodies, firewire for video transfer, and another ethernet port)

AMD 3000+, I'd def. go AMD if you are on a budget, heck I'd go AMD anyway.

Kingston Value ram is fine, all you need is 512mb of PC3200 (400Mhz). You could buy two sticks of 256mb if you will never upgrade higher than a total of 1 gig of ram. Otherwise you should buy two sticks of 512mb but then if you upgrade, you will have to upgrade to 2 full gigs if you want it to run as dual channel. The way the mobo works is there are three dimm slots for ram. 1 slot is on one channel and 2 slots are on another channel (there are only 2 channels). If you want to run it in dual channel mode (you do) then both channels must contain an equal amount of ram. Hence my previous statement. A more visual explanation:

Ch 1/Slot 1: 256
Ch 2/Slot 2: 0
Ch 2/Slot 3: 256

That is how 512 mb would run and if you wanted to upgrade to 1 gig this is how it would run.

Upgraded:

Ch 1/Slot 1: 512
Ch 2/Slot 2: 256
Ch 2/Slot 3: 256


Personally, I would say buy 2 sticks of 256mb cause it will be cheaper and you will most likely never need to upgrade to 2 gigs and prob don't need one full gig right now.

You should not run just one stick of 512mb ram because it won't be running in dual channel mode. I'm not sure if this goes for mobo with Intel chipsets, maybe someone can answer this question.

You will also need a graphics card which you can pick up for 40 bucks if you won't be playing high end games. I think the Geforce FX 5200 is pretty good for the price.

Why do you way P4?

 

I agree AMD all the way they have the ball and intel cant catch up,they have the budget market sewn up and the performance market,if you havnt had an amd before and arnt sure"there are no drawbacks at all,all your programs will work and faster than an intel".Thats what worried me 5 years ago,i havnt bought an intel since the upgrade.

 

Building your own is the way to go. You save a bit in the process and it is great learning experience. I have built 3 budget systems for friends all AMD with mb with onboard vid. They did have a agp slot for a vid card if they wanted to upgrade. None of them have as they don't game so no need for a card. With the amd XP's harder and harder to find the semprons look ok. The budget boards Iused in the build were made by MSI. Easy to set up and I am upgrading soon and going to get a MSI board for myself. If you plan to do some gaming or running intensive programs this is probably not the way to go. Make sure the power supply is no less than a 300watter, everyone cuts corners here when they are a very important component in your box.....

 

I would buy the barebone, and then buy some other hardware to make it complete. I bought my computer from www.magicmicro.com for $200, and at the time it was top of the line and their service is awesome. Then I just bought the other hardware.

 

Thanks to everyone relpying.

I wanted to go with a P4 because the PSU I have is for a P4 and I've never used it. I wanted to get rid of it. I'm thinking about getting an AMD, though. They sound better.

I went to pricwatch.com and everything was super cheap! They must be used parts. I want to go as brand new as possible.

I then went to magicmicro.com and searched for some stuff. I like how it show you things that are compatible with what you are buying. Is this stuff used too, or is it brand new?

This combination of hardware sounds good:

ASUS A7N8X-X NFORCE2 DDR400, 8XAGP, Sound, Lan, USB 2.0
AMD Sempron 2200+
256Mb PC 2700 DDR333
Geforce4 MX 4000 64MB DDR 8x AGP,TV-out
PowMax Mid Tower ATX Case 300W w/ Front USB
Spire WhisperRock IV ultra quiet Copper Base AMD approved socket A fan
300W ATX Power Supply, AMD/ P4 Ready

The total price for all that is $268

What do you all think?

 

Looks good... I would really recommend 512mb of ram in 2 256mb sticks of PC3200. It will seriously pay off in the end. What is the price differential between the ones you want and Kingston Value brand 256mb PC3200?

 

Everything ok but really no need for aftermarket heatsink. The stock one which comes with the cpu (retail) will work just fine. I just noticed you are from Candada so am I . I buy most of my parts from HL technology and ncix both in B.C. I use HL most and have never had any probs. May check these sites and maybe priced may be cheaper.

 

I was just checking out magicmicro and they are in the states. I just priced out your parts on a canadian site and wondered why you were getting things so cheap. In a earlier post I mentioned a motherboard with onboard video, you can save some money for now as the gforce 4 is kinda out of date. You can always put a better video card in at a later time.

 

As far as I know, AMD's will run fine with a P4 power supply, mine does. Anyone else have problems with stuff like that?

 

Colonel,

If your PS is hefty, about 450 and above, by all means use it. I've been using Price Watch for years and had great luck at finding bottom basement prices. I love building PC's but I've been shortcutting for the last year or so, because of the price drops, it's hard to compete with the bulk dealers now. That's why I referred you to a full system on the cheap.

The nice thing about the system that you're buying is that you can pop out the Sempron Chip at a later date and put in one of the higher level AMD XP chips like maybe a 2800 to a 3200. So you still have an upgrade path on an inexpensive machine! Good job shopping! I'm a big ASUS motherboard fan and I like that board! That machine should be pretty decently upgradeable as some of the components continue to drop! (I've built probably about 80 machines in the last 5 years from scratch, so I've done the shopping!)

Someone else mentioned laptops! Good idea too, more expensive, but still a refurbished one had be had at a good price with full factory warrenty! We've bought several HP refurb's from PC Mall (AMD XP2800 class) for around $700 bucks, and I've personally reloaded it to our business specs and they are hot! Nice machines! Just as an alternate idea for you or anyone else. Good luck!

wuf@bark.arf

 

Dell also has refurbished laptops on their official site for 600-700 bucks with comparable specs if you are a Dell buff like me. Just another option.

Angus, I would seriously have to recommend a geforce fx 5200 over the geforce 4 mx. I'm pricing them both on Newegg.com (US) and the 5200 is slightly less than the geforce 4 mx. That card is pretty obsolete. Also if you get only 256mb of ram you will want to get 2 sticks of 128mb so you can pop one in each channel. Again, this will limit you to a max. upgrade of 512mb if you want to run in dual channel mode and use the same ram (used sticks with that amount of ram in them don't exactly fetch top dollar prices). It's your call but to give you an idea of how crucial this part is, Microsoft recommends 1 gig of ram when running windows xp.

These two changes and the removal of the aftermarket heatsink (as was previously mentioned, you don't really need this) you should still be under 300 bucks.

 

Sorry for the flood of info... that site newegg.com has 2 sticks of Corsair Value ram 256mb PC3200 for 60 bucks including shipping and 2 sticks of Kingston Value ram 128mb PC 2700 for 50 bucks including shipping. I'm not sure what your differential is in Canada but 10 bucks is very well worth this upgrade. Like, way worth this upgrade.

 

I don't think new egg ships to Canada. Awesome site, great prices.

 

The Asus A7N8X-X MB does not have dual channel capability, so one stick of 512 meg of ram will do. I don't know where you are in Canada, but the store I usually shop at is online at www.bestbytecomputer.com . Their prices are competitive (if not the best), but the site is quite good with lots of product pictures to possibly help, and they have a bit of a sale on now. Example, they have brand new Acer laptops for $899.00(including windows and 15" screen), which seems like a good price when compared to refurbished.

 

Yes bestbyte is a good store, 1 hr drive for me. I have made many purchases there. Prices are competitive. I have read some good reviews on the acer laptops, I bought one last year (hp) wish I had waited.....oh well can't win them all. You brought up a good point why buy a used maching when you can get a brand new one for a couple of hundred more

 

I frequent it because it is 3 minutes from my house, and I have yet to see anither comp store that has the volume of stock they do. When I go to buy something, I want it now. I don't really want to order it. Their online site is very good now, but of course, I shop there in person. Still, it is handy to go online to see if they actually have the item in stock before heading over.

 

Check Asus's site... the A7N8X sure does have dual channel support... at least thats what it says when I boot up mine .

 

The A7N8X has dual channel capability, the A7N8X-X does not.

 

You win again BillD... I just assumed that the -x would somehow be better, I guess I was wrong. It is a very curious that Asus would not say this on their site. In that case, I would seriously consider shelling out the extra cash for the Deluxe model or at least the plain A7N8X model with no -x. Would you agree BillD? Would you disagree BillD?

 

Personally, I would shell out the extra few bucks, but for a budget system, it is still a good MB. I know of a few people who have systems that are very similar to the config in the earlier post (3 of them) and they are all very happy with their systems. Actually, I was surprised also when I found that out (about the single channel) as I recommended the system to those 3 people as good value at the time, from a local store.

 

Hi.

I made some changes to what I might get. I don't really need a video card for this computer, so I'm not including one. It seems that the case includes it's own power supply, but I might have missread something. 265 mbs of RAM is all the computer needs. It doesn't need more that 256 for what my brother will be using the computer for. I'm satisfied with the A7N8X-X motherboard. No need to get the deluxe one.

I just want a basic computer that will last.

Here's what I might go with now:

$72 - ASUS A7N8X-X NFORCE2 DDR400, 8XAGP, Sound, Lan, USB 2.0
$59 - AMD Sempron 2200+
$37 - 256Mb PC 3200 DDR400
$28 - PowMax Mid Tower ATX Case 300W
$15 - Case Exhaust fan/Video card cooling fan

$211 - total before shipping and conversion to Canadian dollars.

I tried to calculate the shipping cost but the thing on the website (magicmicro) didn't work. It said to type in your zip or postal code but it wouldn't accept my postal code. I could only put in 5 of the 6 digits of my postal code. ????? Weird.

 

I went to the site you are pricing from and they do ship internationally. Depending on the canadian dollar you will pay 20%-25% on top of that and the hassle of shipping and what ever duty they put on it. I priced the same parts except the fan from HL Technology in Vancouver B.C Canada.
18 in capricorn with 350watt ps.- $34.50 (Good generic case built 8 sys with it.)
amd sempron 2300+ -$82.20
asus a7n8x-x - $84.40
256 ddr pc 2700-$43.5
I don't know where you live but if this was shipped to Ontario to me the total with taxes and shipping is $287.56.
God forbid if you have to send parts back you have to remember you pay for shipping RMA's. I have only sent back 2 parts bad stick of ram and dead motherboard, and this does happen. You have to be sure that the site you buy from has excellent customer service. I have bought from sites that absolutley suck so be careful. What are you using for a video card. If you are not doing gaming you can get onboard video board...MSIKM3M for $63.50 and can always upgrade card later... hope this helps .SM

 

I live in Southern Ontario. Maybe I should buy the parts from the site you are talking about. What's the link for that site?

Oh, and are these parts brand new or all used?

 

hltechnology.com Parts are new. You can add parts to the shopping cart and enter province and the tax and shipping is calculated without having to buy. I have bought parts to build 8 computers from here and have had no problems whatsoever with service. Ncix is also a great site but prices are a little higher there and there service are great as well. I'm in southern ontario as well so the shipping would be the same to you for the parts I priced from my earlier post. SM

 

I would first check with local computer stotes for the items you want (that is if you have a store not too far away). I always prefer to deal person to person if possible ( but hey, thats just me), and I ahve found most stores are competitive with each other. My preference is to be able to retun a faulty item to the store than have to ship it back to the supplier. Also, if you are having problems at the start you can usually count on some help. At any rate, good luck.

 

I just checked Bestbyte's site, and this is what I found:
Asus A7N8X-X $82.00
256 Buffalo DDR400 $33.00

 

I just checked Bestbyte's site, and this is what I found:
Asus A7N8X-X $82.00
256 Buffalo DDR400 $33.00
512 " " $66.00
Sempron 2400 $85.00
Asus 9250 video $62.95

and several cases in the $40 to $60 range. this store is in Whitby, but if you live any where near any size town you should be able to come close to or equal these prices. I have no idea what it would cost to ship those items to you, but as i said, you may be able to deal locally for about the same money (or close enough to not make it worth your while to order on line.Good luck.

 

Your lucky to be so close to a reputable store. I'm not. Mabe this fella is and should go that route. I buy online because no stores close to me can come close to the prices I pay out west. As far a tech support both stores I mentioned are great for that. Out of province shopping you don't pay sales tax so it will usually pays for the shipping. Ncix for some items you pay $10 for air shipping. I ordered a stick of ram on this past thurs and friday purolator was at my door at 12:30 and I did not have to drive anywhere. I could not drive to Whitby for $10. Good luck to what ever you decide to build.

 

All good points. Everyone's situation is a little different, which sometimes makes it tough to give good advice (opinions?).Have a good one.

 

I don't know if UPS ships to Canada, but another good sight to check out is 3btech.net. They've always been good for me, except they don't allow returns on processors, motherboards, or memory. It's almost all brand name stuff though.

 

UPS will ship to Canada, but why would you deal with a company that doesn't allow returns? Another thing to consider if you are having something shipped to Canada from the US by courier, is their is usually a brokrage fee involved, that can be quite high. My son had some body jewelry shipped from the US via UPS and the brokerage fee was $28.00 on $55.00 worth of goods, as well as the shipping fee.

 

See before I had to return the Motherboard, the policy had allow for return of those items. Stupidly, I forgot to check the policy before ordering, and finding out I couldn't use the board. I'll eventually get around to selling it on Ebay, and I'll use the funds to get a better video card. My PCI Voodoo3 is showing it's age. 16MB memory is fine for older games, but some of the newer stuff is rather demanding.

 

Hi.

I finaly got the computer. I didn't order it online. After all that I just went to some computer store and got one. It is similar to the one I was going to get online.

AMD Sempron 2300+
256mb DDR PC 2700 RAM
40GB HD ATA 133 7200 RPM
LG CD-Burner/DVD Player
32mb sis Video
16 bit Soundcard
SDRock K7S41GX Motherboard
Keyboard and Mouse
Speakers
200 watt ATX Case
6 USB Ports with AGP Slot

It was $369 before taxes. I didn't really need everything that came with it but I thought what the hell. Now I have a bunch of parts that I don't think will get used. I'll probably just donate them to somewhere. I have 3 CD ROM's just laying around my house now!

Anyway, many thanks to all who helped me. I learned some things while doing this, even though I didn't build the computer myself I still learned a bit.

Tell me what you think.

 

Another stick or two of RAM would help greatly. Bazza

 

I agree, and a three hundred watt power supply at least.